Andy Carroll made his English Premier League debut against Newcastle United and impressed many. He was a standout on the field, earning him a move to English powerhouse Liverpool. However, the move didn’t go in favour of the former English international, and he was considered a flop. He joined West Ham United, where he struggled with injuries, and then once again joined Newcastle United for a short spell. He is now nearing the end of his career and plays for Reading in the EFL Championship. He joined the team on a four-month contract at the start of the current season. His performances had an impact on the results, which earned him a contract extension until the end of the next season. He is starting to find his feet, and here are some of the stats that show how a move to the Championship side has worked for the 34-year-old.
Since joining the EFL Championship side in September, Carroll has made 16 appearances for Reading, with six coming off the bench. He has managed to score four goals. The above viz shows the percentile rank of the player in comparison to other strikers in the EFL Championship. Andy Carroll has only played 53% of Reading’s available minutes in the league. The player has a low percentile rank in almost every department except for aerial duels and positioning. His tall figure allows him to contest aerial duels inside the opposition penalty box, and he usually ends up winning most of them. Carroll averages 14.54 aerial duels per 90 minutes and has a 52.1% success rate.
Carroll’s positioning
Andy Carroll is a threat inside the opposition penalty box. The 34-year-old striker likes to get inside the opposition penalty box to score goals. The above viz shows the heatmap of the player in all the matches played in the EFL Championship this season. It can be observed that Carroll has spent most of his time on the left side, and his heatmap also shows a high intensity inside the opposition penalty box. The striker averages 3.18 touches inside the opposition penalty box per 90 minutes.
Goal-scoring improvements
One of the reasons Reading decided to extend Carroll’s contract was because of his improvement in scoring goals. The striker has found the back of the net four times, with two coming off the penalty spot. He averages 1.84 shots per 90 minutes and has a high accuracy rate of 55.6%. The above viz shows that Carroll has taken most of the shots from inside the penalty box. However, he has failed to direct his shots toward the corner. Most of the shots on target have been straight at the goalkeeper.
Last season, Carroll made 23 combined appearances for Reading and West Bromwich Albion in the EFL Championship. The 34-year-old went on to score five goals and provide one assist. He attempted more shots and averaged 2.27, but the accuracy rate was low at 33.3%. The shot map above shows that he once again attempted most of the shots from inside the penalty box but failed to hit the target. The xG rate per 90 minutes is a bit similar. This season he averages 0.34 xG per 90 minutes, and last time he averaged 0.3 xG per 90 minutes.
Andy Carroll has also collected eight fouls for his side, including a penalty. He is not known for his dribbling, but his tall figure makes it difficult for the defenders to shake him off.
Betting Analysis
Andy Carroll carries a lot of threats for Reading in the attack. He is their penalty-taker, and that makes him one of the more likely goal-scorers on the team. Carroll’s inclusion in the team has an impact on the over/under lines. He is a threat against the teams ranked lower than Reading and lowers the odds for over lines.
The 34-year-old is nearing the end of his career. Injuries have affected the player, and that has reduced his gametime throughout his career. Now he is looking to end his career on a high and is helping Reading fight for promotion. The striker will look to score more goals and hope that his team moves up in the league table.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
